Tag Archive for patty sheehan

Political Stocks: Whos Up, Whos Down in O-Town: Post Primary, Pre-Tampa Edition

August 20, 2012 Uncategorized One comment

Let’s do Political Stocks! The week after primaries are always a good time to examine trends, and with the Republican convention in town next week, we can expect even more movement in the coming weeks.

Who’s Up:

The Home Team at the RNC: Rubio, Bondi, Mack IV, Jeb, and even you too Governor Rick Scott will get the opportunity to shine in the Republican event of year. Lawmakers, candidates, delegates, and everyone who is anybody will head the Tampa next week for the convention and it will be the perfect opportunity for Florida rising stars to make an impression. The convention also presents Connie Mack IV a prime chance to fundraise. He’s got the big November showdown with Democratic Senator Bill Nelson. What about Marco Rubio? Will he bring the house down and plant the seeds for a Prez run down the road?

The RNC presents a huge fundraising opportunity for the GOP Senate Candidate

Municipal Incumbents: With Ted Edwards winning re-election last week, incumbent on the Orange County Commission and the Orlando City Council are undefeated. Edwards along with fellow OC Commish Scott Boyd (unopposed), along with Orlando City Commissioners, Patty Sheehan, Tony Ortiz, Sam Ings all survived re-election. Don’t forget about Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer who beat back a trio of challengers. The power of incumbency is more prevalent than ever, especially at the local level.

Alan Grayson: For $125K he got to pick his general election opponent. Now, local favorite Todd Long will have to shout above the Grayson media hurricane (in two languages) to convince the voters in the 9th district that he’s the better choice. It’s not impossible but it’s an uphill climb.

Who’s Down?

Congressman Cliff Stearns: What the heck happened in North, Central Florida last week? The longtime incumbent was beaten by horse doctor and Tea Party Favorite Ted Yoho, and stole headlines all over the country.

Gary Siplin: For the first time in a longtime, there isn’t going to be a Siplin in Tallahassee. The termed out controversial State Senator has been under the microscope in recent weeks for mailers that may or may not have violated ethics rules with multiple photographs of his wife Victoria, who was running to replace her husband in the state senate. She lost last week to former State Rep. Geraldine Thompson.

Vice-President Joe Biden: The gaffe-prone Veep has had a rough couple of months and now there are rumors that two weeks ago, there were talks about Biden stepping down. He’s still got to debate Paul Ryan and in a tight race, can the President count on Biden to hold on to the football?

The Vice-President needs to remain error free for the remainder of the campaign

Buddy’s Big Week: Mayor Dyer’s PR Operation Delivers

June 30, 2012 Uncategorized One comment

This why people run for office to begin with.

To be an ambassador to the people, to lead the community to prosperity, to wield the power of public office to leave the district or city in a better state than when you arrived.

And all of the fun stuff that comes along with it.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer had a banner week full of spectacular photo opportunities and awareness initiatives with a the Citrus Bowl as a it’s centerpiece. All of this with a tropical storm tossing and turning in the Gulf.

Let’s start with that Citrus Bowl. Last Sunday, the Orlando Sentinel broke the story that Dyer had struck a deal with Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs over renovations for the 76 year old stadium.

Monday:

Everyone rolled their eyes when they heard that the Citrus Bowl needed to be renovated immediately. More money, needed right now, for the venues. Understandably, Orange County Mayor Jacobs was among the most skeptical of this request. She already had to audit the books for the new performing arts center last year, and now Dyer wanted to talk Bowl renovations. The City of Orlando couldn’t take the financial risk by itself and needed backing from the County. After the threat of losing bowl games and major events became a possibility, Jacobs finally agreed.

Orlando and Orange County will most likely keep it’s bowl games (and the millions generated) as well as remain competitive for future national events.

Mayor Dyer gets that political trophy in 2014, just in time for whatever his next political move might be.

Tuesday:

Dyer could have called the week a winner after Monday but it was just the beginning. Tuesday brought PR gold in the form of a photo opportunity of Dyer and City Commissioner Patty Sheehan releasing Black Neck Swans into their new home at Lake Eola Park

A kinder, gentler Mayor of Orlando.

Wednesday:

What good are venues if you can’t fill the seats year around? Dyer welcomed the new Orlando Solar Bears coach on Wednesday. The minor league hockey team is returning to Orlando and will fill those gaps between concerts and Magic road trips. If Dwight Howard leaves, we’re going to need all the help we can get.

Thursday:

Dyer sent out advisories on social media in the wake of scammers calling Orlando residents posing as OUC representatives in an attempt to fish credit card numbers for false purchases.

All jokes aside this initiative was terrific use of social media that could spare Orlando residents a lot of heartbreak

So, what does all of this mean?

Well, first off these events are a lot of work. So, the Mayor’s PR/Outreach teams made big plays this week. All of these events got pop in the press and all of them flex the resources of the city, from world class sporting events to keeping residents safe from cybercrime.

Except for a few grunts about the Citrus Bowl, the rest were easy political victories, all lined up, one behind the other. This is how you win re-election by a landslide.

And how you continue to fuel speculations and set the stage for any “higher office” plans….

Wednesday Morning Political Headlines: Black Swans at Eola, Orlando VA Hospital Delays lead to finger pointing

June 27, 2012 Uncategorized One comment

This week has been PR gold for Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and it’s only Wednesday.

The beginning of the week had the rumored Gubernatorial candidate coming to terms on renovations for the Citrus Bowl renovations with Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs; A move that will keep the venue competitive for national events and temporarily halt questions over his ability to work with Jacobs and on Tuesday he showed his kinder and gentler side releasing two black swans into Lake Eola. A photo opportunity most politicians would shout for.

Two days, two wins.

The real credit goes to Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan who purchased the swans and has also sponsored the city’s growing Urban Chicken program that allows city residents the chance to house two “fowl” creatures (see what I did there?).

Perhaps Dyer could advise the Department of Veterans affairs and the contractors behind the delays of the Orlando VA Hospital. Today we’ve got more bad news over the finger pointing that has delayed the badly needed facility that has thousands of Veterans waiting.

In other more serious political news, we’ve got video content on poll closings in Osceola County, and poll numbers that have President Obama ahead in Florida over Mitt Romney on the eve of the controversial health care ruling.

These stories lead your Wednesday morning political headlines.

WESH 2: (VIDEO) Black swans released in Lake Eola

Orlando Sentinel: VA, contractor try to sort out Orlando hospital delay

WFTV 9 Eyewitness News: (VIDEO) Some question closing of polling places in Osceola County

CF News 13: Swing state poll shows support for Obama

WKMG Local 6: Seminole County to vote on property tax increase

WOFL Fox 35: (AP) Obama to host White House picnic for lawmakers

The two swans released on Tuesday should have more freedom than this one photographed last year.

Wednesday Morning Political Headlines: Dyer wins re-election

April 4, 2012 Uncategorized One comment

It’s been a busy 24 hours. Mitt Romney took another step towards the nomination winning three more primaries, including an important Wisconsin Contest. President Barack Obama has unofficially recognized the former Massachusetts Governor as his general election opponent and called him out by name while criticizing the Ryan Budget.

In local political news, Buddy Dyer easily won re-election for the office of Orlando Mayor. He took about 58% of the vote with a dismal turnout. The rest of the incumbents were also victorious which means little change on the city council.

It was a great appetizer for the main course of national politics that await of later this year. Here are your morning political headlines.

WOFL FOX 35: (VIDEO) Buddy Dyer wins third term as Orlando mayor

CF NEWS 13: Dyer wins 4th term as Orlando mayor

WFTV 9 Eyewitness News:Mayor Buddy Dyer wins re-election, 3 council members keep seats (VIDEO)

WKMG Local 6: Patty Sheehan takes city commissioner District 4 race

WESH 2: (Video) Buddy Dyer Wins Another Term As Orlando Mayor

Orlando Sentinel:Dyer wins 3rd term as Orlando mayor

Full City of Orlando Election Results:

Orlando Mayor:
Percent Votes
Buddy Dyer: 58.27% 12,107
Phil Diamond: 27.45% 5,704
Ken Mulvaney: 11.13% 2,312
Mike Cantone: 3.15% 654

City Commissioner District 1:
Percent Votes
Jim Gray 54.70% 1,529
Chase Smith 28.91% 808
Randy Ross 11.16% 312
Stephen Rayle 5.22% 146

City Commissioner District 2:
Percent Votes
Tony Ortiz 81.38% 2,548
Vienna Alevares 18.62% 583

City Commissioner District 4:
Percent Votes
Patty Sheehan 77.04% 3,908
Aretha Olivares 22.96% 1,165

City Commissioner District 6:
Percent Votes
Sam Ings 71.68% 1,967
Lawanna Gelzer 28.32% 777

Incumbents including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer were the big winners last night

"This Bud is for You!" Dyer wins re-election in Orlando Mayor Race

April 4, 2012 Uncategorized One comment

He had the money, connections, experience, and ran a strong campaign. With those resources Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will continue to lead the City Beautiful for another term (maybe).

Dyer beat out the fireballer Activist Mike Cantone, Businessman/longtime foe Ken Mulvaney, and held off a challenger from his own ranks in Commissioner Phil Diamond. He cruised to a 58% win that eliminated any possibility of a runoff next month.

What happened?

Dyer outspent his opponents almost 3 times over. He took to television and had a GOTV push that would make someone running for Congress jealous. He used his State of the City address and transitioned it into a potent campaign message. He dropped 40lbs and picked up support with his big city vision and small town delivery. You looked at his campaign finance reports and could recognize that the power players in this town didn’t want a change. You look at the returns tonight and realized that the middle class didn’t either. His biggest risk was participating in debates where everyone would take apart his policies. He stared straight ahead and avoided a damaging soundbyte at all costs.

Turnout was low and that might have given one of Dyer’s opponents a chance to push this into a runoff where they might have had a better possibility in what many thought was an improbability.

Phil Diamond ran a fine campaign and against a weaker incumbent might have stood a chance. In the end the Dyer Juggernaut was too much and despite a decent fundraising push on his end, he couldn’t keep up. You can still make the argument that he was better at the debates than Dyer. We’ll see where he goes from here.

Ken Mulvaney’s late start costed him. His campaign sprung to life in the days leading up to the election but he couldn’t rise up in the debates or define himself as the clear Buddy alternative.

Mike Cantone will be back. He’s actually better off running in a partisan race that will let his Democratic philosophy run full speed. He can grab ink with the best of them and he would be a nightmare to deal with in a head to head race.

Incumbents Tony Ortiz, Patty Sheehan, and Sam Ings were also winners tonight. They’ll be joined by one new face, Jim Gray who will take Diamond’s seat on the council.

Here were the final numbers.

Buddy Dyer: 57.8%
Phil Diamond: 27.9%
Ken Mulvaney: 11.3%
Mike Cantone: 3.2%

This Blog’s Prediction?

Buddy Dyer
Phil Diamond
Ken Mulvaney
Mike Cantone.

So, Mayor Buddy Dyer will remain Orlando’s Mayor. He’ll zig zag around the country pushing Orlando to businesses and major event leaders. He’ll continue to ride on floats down Orange Ave during Holiday Parades. He’ll hop a ride on Air Force One with President Barack Obama. We know all of this already. What we don’t know is what is really next on Buddy Dyer’s political path.

You can ask him. He won’t tell you much… for now. But, in two years we’ll all be watching, including Florida Governor Rick Scott.

Buddy Dyer was the last man standing and got the last word in with the voters.

Wednesday Morning Political Headlines: Dyer wins re-election

April 4, 2012 Uncategorized No comments

It’s been a busy 24 hours. Mitt Romney took another step towards the nomination winning three more primaries, including an important Wisconsin Contest. President Barack Obama has unofficially recognized the former Massachusetts Governor as his general election opponent and called him out by name while criticizing the Ryan Budget.

In local political news, Buddy Dyer easily won re-election for the office of Orlando Mayor. He took about 58% of the vote with a dismal turnout. The rest of the incumbents were also victorious which means little change on the city council.

It was a great appetizer for the main course of national politics that await of later this year. Here are your morning political headlines.

WOFL FOX 35: (VIDEO) Buddy Dyer wins third term as Orlando mayor

CF NEWS 13: Dyer wins 4th term as Orlando mayor

WFTV 9 Eyewitness News:Mayor Buddy Dyer wins re-election, 3 council members keep seats (VIDEO)

WKMG Local 6: Patty Sheehan takes city commissioner District 4 race

WESH 2: (Video) Buddy Dyer Wins Another Term As Orlando Mayor

Orlando Sentinel:Dyer wins 3rd term as Orlando mayor

Full City of Orlando Election Results:

Orlando Mayor:
Percent Votes
Buddy Dyer: 58.27% 12,107
Phil Diamond: 27.45% 5,704
Ken Mulvaney: 11.13% 2,312
Mike Cantone: 3.15% 654

City Commissioner District 1:
Percent Votes
Jim Gray 54.70% 1,529
Chase Smith 28.91% 808
Randy Ross 11.16% 312
Stephen Rayle 5.22% 146

City Commissioner District 2:
Percent Votes
Tony Ortiz 81.38% 2,548
Vienna Alevares 18.62% 583

City Commissioner District 4:
Percent Votes
Patty Sheehan 77.04% 3,908
Aretha Olivares 22.96% 1,165

City Commissioner District 6:
Percent Votes
Sam Ings 71.68% 1,967
Lawanna Gelzer 28.32% 777

Incumbents including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer were the big winners last night

“This Bud is for You!” Dyer wins re-election in Orlando Mayor Race

April 4, 2012 Uncategorized 5 comments

He had the money, connections, experience, and ran a strong campaign. With those resources Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will continue to lead the City Beautiful for another term (maybe).

Dyer beat out the fireballer Activist Mike Cantone, Businessman/longtime foe Ken Mulvaney, and held off a challenger from his own ranks in Commissioner Phil Diamond. He cruised to a 58% win that eliminated any possibility of a runoff next month.

What happened?

Dyer outspent his opponents almost 3 times over. He took to television and had a GOTV push that would make someone running for Congress jealous. He used his State of the City address and transitioned it into a potent campaign message. He dropped 40lbs and picked up support with his big city vision and small town delivery. You looked at his campaign finance reports and could recognize that the power players in this town didn’t want a change. You look at the returns tonight and realized that the middle class didn’t either. His biggest risk was participating in debates where everyone would take apart his policies. He stared straight ahead and avoided a damaging soundbyte at all costs.

Turnout was low and that might have given one of Dyer’s opponents a chance to push this into a runoff where they might have had a better possibility in what many thought was an improbability.

Phil Diamond ran a fine campaign and against a weaker incumbent might have stood a chance. In the end the Dyer Juggernaut was too much and despite a decent fundraising push on his end, he couldn’t keep up. You can still make the argument that he was better at the debates than Dyer. We’ll see where he goes from here.

Ken Mulvaney’s late start costed him. His campaign sprung to life in the days leading up to the election but he couldn’t rise up in the debates or define himself as the clear Buddy alternative.

Mike Cantone will be back. He’s actually better off running in a partisan race that will let his Democratic philosophy run full speed. He can grab ink with the best of them and he would be a nightmare to deal with in a head to head race.

Incumbents Tony Ortiz, Patty Sheehan, and Sam Ings were also winners tonight. They’ll be joined by one new face, Jim Gray who will take Diamond’s seat on the council.

Here were the final numbers.

Buddy Dyer: 57.8%
Phil Diamond: 27.9%
Ken Mulvaney: 11.3%
Mike Cantone: 3.2%

This Blog’s Prediction?

Buddy Dyer
Phil Diamond
Ken Mulvaney
Mike Cantone.

So, Mayor Buddy Dyer will remain Orlando’s Mayor. He’ll zig zag around the country pushing Orlando to businesses and major event leaders. He’ll continue to ride on floats down Orange Ave during Holiday Parades. He’ll hop a ride on Air Force One with President Barack Obama. We know all of this already. What we don’t know is what is really next on Buddy Dyer’s political path.

You can ask him. He won’t tell you much… for now. But, in two years we’ll all be watching, including Florida Governor Rick Scott.

Buddy Dyer was the last man standing and got the last word in with the voters.

Patty Sheehan, Buddy Dyer Alliance holds heavy presence Downtown

March 26, 2012 Uncategorized One comment

If you drive through the neighborhood streets of Downtown Orlando, you’ll see a heavy lawn sign presence as early voting kicks off and election day approaches for the city on April 3rd.

You’ll see a lot of Phil Diamond signs, the commissioner still holds a narrow lead over Mayor Buddy Dyer in that regard but that’s diminished since the Mayor has kicked his grassroots efforts into high gear.

Another thing you’ll notice is on almost every lawn that bares the mouth wash, minty green “Buddy” signs, you’ll see the blue and white signs for City Commissioner Patty Sheehan’s re-election efforts.

It’s not uncommon for campaigns to walk for one another, in fact you can expect a lot of it when the Presidential race kicks into high gear and state parties hit the streets. “Please vote for Barack Obama/Mitt Romney and hey, while you’re at it please consider so and so”

But, teaming with Dyer holds high rewards especially, in these municipal races where you’ve got months separating elections hype and GOTV can be especially difficult. Sheehan’s alliance with the Mayor gives her the edge in every aspect of her campaign from fundraising to volunteering.

You can’t blame her. She’s served with Dyer for years and the two stand on the same side on most of the issues. The Mayor’s platform is almost identical to hers and the two pull from the same group of donors. Not hitching onto Buddy’s rising star, especially when his name keeps surfacing as a challenger to Governor Rick Scott in 2014 would only set her back.

It’s not all good aligning with the Mayor. Sheehan was attacked by one of the Dyer’s opponents earlier this year. Mike Cantone called her the Mayor’s lapdog and the story was picked up by the Orlando Sentinel.

The relationship benefits the Mayor way as well. Sheehan worked with Dyer on an the Domestic Partnership Registry which, delivered him high praise from a powerful LGBT community.

Sheehan faces opposition from Non-profit consultant and businesswoman Aretha Olivarez.

Sheehan's signs are consistently seen sitting next to Buddy Dyer's on the lawns of Orlando Voters.

Patty Sheehan, Buddy Dyer Alliance holds heavy presence Downtown

March 26, 2012 Uncategorized One comment

If you drive through the neighborhood streets of Downtown Orlando, you’ll see a heavy lawn sign presence as early voting kicks off and election day approaches for the city on April 3rd.

You’ll see a lot of Phil Diamond signs, the commissioner still holds a narrow lead over Mayor Buddy Dyer in that regard but that’s diminished since the Mayor has kicked his grassroots efforts into high gear.

Another thing you’ll notice is on almost every lawn that bares the mouth wash, minty green “Buddy” signs, you’ll see the blue and white signs for City Commissioner Patty Sheehan’s re-election efforts.

It’s not uncommon for campaigns to walk for one another, in fact you can expect a lot of it when the Presidential race kicks into high gear and state parties hit the streets. “Please vote for Barack Obama/Mitt Romney and hey, while you’re at it please consider so and so”

But, teaming with Dyer holds high rewards especially, in these municipal races where you’ve got months separating elections hype and GOTV can be especially difficult. Sheehan’s alliance with the Mayor gives her the edge in every aspect of her campaign from fundraising to volunteering.

You can’t blame her. She’s served with Dyer for years and the two stand on the same side on most of the issues. The Mayor’s platform is almost identical to hers and the two pull from the same group of donors. Not hitching onto Buddy’s rising star, especially when his name keeps surfacing as a challenger to Governor Rick Scott in 2014 would only set her back.

It’s not all good aligning with the Mayor. Sheehan was attacked by one of the Dyer’s opponents earlier this year. Mike Cantone called her the Mayor’s lapdog and the story was picked up by the Orlando Sentinel.

The relationship benefits the Mayor as well. Sheehan worked with Dyer on the Domestic Partnership Registry which, delivered him high praise from a powerful LGBT community.

Sheehan faces opposition from Non-profit consultant and businesswoman Aretha Olivarez.

Sheehan's signs are consistently seen sitting next to Buddy Dyer's on the lawns of Orlando Voters.